nokia can raise cash by taking pictures of kate middleton on nokia cameras and selling them to the tabloids. that does it if for us on this tuesday. back to headquarters, wopner and the "fast money halftime." it is time for the halftime show, four hours until the close. here is where we stand on the street. the dow is hanging on to positive territory by just about 17 points. you look over my shoulder here, s&p, nasdaq negative. here is what we're following. the path to 1600, street strategists says will get there sooner than you think. he'll tell you exactly how. open house, toll brothers wows

the street. should the stock make a move into your portfolio? we debate that ahead. first our top story, dueling over a cliff. now that the white house has rejected the latest offer from republicans, where do negotiations go from here and what does it mean for your money? our traders for the hour with us. joe, right to you. the other day you were bullish. you were fighting with me why you like this market. now today you're cautious. tell us why. >> what i have done is begin to pare down risk. to use the word cautious is correct. back to november 16. it seemed at that moment when the s&p was trading there were policy makeers in washington, d.c., responded to the market. pelosi talked about the market on that friday, and that's where the encouragement came. i think where we sit now the market is going to force the hand of d.c. policymakers. i still think we get a fiscal deal cliff done. the data we saw yesterday was

lousy. the employment component was the worst we've seen since september. i think on friday we're going to get a horrible unemployment report. i think the market is going to force the hand here to get a deal done. this is a tactical call. >> joe has gone a little sour on the market. where do you stand today? >> i'm going to stay as pos 0 tiff as a week ago. you look at the s&p and that's why i will stay positive. sitting around 1407. it broke through key levels and has moved back higher. 1425 on the s&p for an area to break above. so i think i will agree with joe, though, that right now with the data you have seen, with the ism number you saw yesterday, washington has to get something done. i think a deal will get done and the market rallies. >> steve weiss, does the data change? you have a guy who has been

bullish, did defending the market every move lower. it's come back and he's defend ed it. >> i departmeidn't see the markg much between now and then. if you're really squoeoverweigh equities, you're playing for one thing, for a resolution, the fiscal cliff that you can live with. we've had china come, the chinese markets are down. our markets are not believing that. europe continues to worsen so there are lots of issues out there, lots of reasons to be negle negative plus corporate earnings. i remain cautious. >> the former chief economist and vice president biden, tony worked in the bush 43 white house, both cnbc contributors.

good to see you both today. is the white house going to accept anything but tax rates going up? >> well, they've never completely closed the door on that. >> it's like maybe just a crack, and i mean it's a small crack. >> yeah, and it's a very small crack and it might even be closing. they are very much about the high higher rates. the thing that i think the white house is having legitimate problems with in this new offer from john boehner is the lack of specificity. tony and i argued this a lot. he makes a great point. do we have to argue about rates versus base? is we can talk about base. and at this point republicans have done the same thing mitt romney was doing. $800 billion in new revenues from unspecified chose urs. the time for that is past. i'm glad they're coming with a counteroffer. they have to put specifics on the table. >> tony, under any circumstances, as you sit here right now, are republicans going to agree to let tax rates

increa increase? >> look, i find that almost impossible for republicans to do, at least before december 31. i think everyone understands that it is the single thing that the president wants more than anything else. you can sack rifice just about anything to get the top two rates. so i don't see republicans getting on that issue. i think what you are seeing, and i do give credit to speaker boehner for rising above, bring in the proposal yesterday and getting the full republican leadership onboard, talking about specific numbers and maybe see the beginnings of the con turp of an eventual agreement. but it's just not going to cut -- i don't see how it comes before december 31st and it's going to have to happen. not going to take an active vote that way. >> let me reflect. two things, first of all, i actually think we're going to get a resolution to the fiscal cliff. i just think it's going to come after we go over. so that's not unlike -- >> we agree. >> the idea there is actually

republicans can claim a tax decrease. that is you can take the rate down from 39.6% to 38% or 37%, something like that. the president gets what he wants, which is higher rates. the republicans can claim victory as well because they're lower than they would have been otherwise. >> tony, let's assume we do, in fact, go over the cliff. as both you and jerrod suggest that we likely will. the market will likely go down and go down hard. a new poll suggested if we do go over the cliff that republicans are going to be the ones who are going to be blamed. how will we deal with that with the market being held hostage by these negotiations which seemingly, at least in public, are going nowhere? >> first of all, i think the markets might be better to listen to me and jerrod rather than whoever is telling them this could absolutely get done and the republicans will cave and that's just what's going to happen. i mean, they should listen to us more because the politics of this are really, really important and make it very difficult for the sides to come

together before january 1. i think it makes it really hard. we should be pleasantly surprised if it happens. i think there are people who want to have it happen beforehand. we need to prepare them for the more than likely case that is we're talking about january fixes on this stuff and not december fixes. >> and i also don't believe that the market necessarily goes down hard. i think it does go down. i think if there's a plausible, credible plan that just isn't complete yet on december 31, the kind of scenario i was discussing earlier, i think the market could take a relatively small hit. >> i just throw out the number 777. do you know what that number represents? >> i was standing next to president bush watching the t.a.r.p. vote go down when that came up on the screen. i'm very, very familiar with it. i don't think that's the same kind of scenario that we're looking at today if the messaging from policymakers in washington is good enough to talk about how we can deal with mitigation of some of the fiscal

cliff. >> it's great to have both of you with us. i appreciate your time very much. thank you. have both of you back soon. you've heard the arguments. they said the markets shouldn't be looking at this so much. how are up trading the action we're hearing as you sit there in chicago today? >> well, i'm putting on positions that are less susceptible, scott, to some of the volatility that i anticipate is going up. i mean, the vix is up 14% since last friday. the reason, again, the president's offer and then boehner's counteroffer. that's why the vix, in my mind, has moved up as much. to steven's point as far as negativity, i see a lot of positives potentially going out there. i mean, look at germany up 22%. we take that for our performance out of our market this year but the reason that the world is waiting is if we really do push all the way up until the cliff and a decision is not made with a little bit of a look back until 2013 even if the rates

remain roughly the same, i think we're dancing with the devil there and the rest of the world is already making decisions. we've seen it from the dividend pairs and so forth and the acceleration, larry el some and everyone else accelerating or declaring specials. i think all of that is potential negative going forward to 2013. >> now, guys, the market is negle negative across the board. do you agree with what both jerrod and tony made the argument as long as we get a bit of the framework in place, before the end of the year, that the market doesn't go down, in my words, hard, which he didn't think it would. what do you think? >> i don't think it goes down hard. i think it's a little bit like a down grade of the u.s. debt. our debt gets downgraded, the market will collapse. guess what, it was talked about so much before it happened that when it happened, the market traded up. we're in a similar situation. if you take a look, forget about the politics, when you take a look at who has the best bargaining position, you have to

come out with who is sitting in the white house. if he does nothing, it's exactly what jerrod said. i think that's what ultimately happens and then the market looks to next year and then the market goes up. but we don't -- i don't see a very big hit to the market from a deal not happening. >> and exactly what you just said is one of the reasons why tactically i am cautious here. ublicans really do not have much. golden in terms of negotiating right now. however, they can wait around for friday. if we do get a lousy unemployment report, well, then they have a little bit that they can push back against. >> explain that because of the storm. >> i don't think all it have it will be explainable by superstorm sandy. i think a lot of it is pulling back. you've seen the capital investment. >> we have to move on but i have to push back on one thing. are we talking about two different things? when we got downgraded the market went down hard. more than a trillion in value. >> but the market price. the market came right back and

actually went to new highs not that long after that. once the knee jerk reaction was done. the market is being sensitized to it right now. and that's a good thing. two companies that issued special dividends ahead of the fiscal cliff and if you're keeping score at home that's 103 companies thus far this quarter valued at more than $22 billion. so we see this continued parade of companies just coming out and issuing special dividends whether it's by debt, with debt, or cash on the balance sheet. >> the big one there, scott, is costco. last week when costco made the announcement, it was up 5%, almost 7% on the news. oracle moves their dividends up and the stock is flat to down on the day. coach announces a special dividend. they are down. i think the market is pricing in. it's been so overtalked about. i think the market is pricing this in a lot and special dividends will not have the same

impact they had. >> good point, tok. what do you think about that? once the luster of these dividends wears off, so to speak, what happens to some of these companies? are you watching some more than others, one specifically over the rest? >> well, sure i am, scott. i still think that google and 0/or microsoft could declare a dividend bigger than all declared so far because, as you said, it's about $22 billion. both of them could easily do it that if they wanted to. but i go back to what murphy was talking about as far as going forward, a lot of the demand when you did that cash for clunkers, that pulled demand forward, demand that would have been out there months in the future. in the case of these dividends like larry ellison did, this is money people would have been getting in 2013. granted they're getting it at better tax treatment by getting it in 2012 but they are not -- >> as himself. >> there are not nearly $200 million just for him. they're not pushing this money

out in 2013. that could be a little bit of a pull on a negative out in 2013 for all the ones doing what larry ellison is doing. we'll hear from one of the companies, ethan allen ceo will be here to discuss his decision and why he believes it's the best use of his capital right now. there he is, he's coming up. but first, home builder tulle brothers, double digit growth. shares up 60% thus far. make room for the stock in your portfolio. shares of bank of america having the best year since 1991. a look at whether this rally will hold on to next year.

with the fidelity stock screener, you can try strategies from independent experts and see what criteria they use. such as a 5% yield on dividend-paying stocks. then you can customize the strategies and narrow down to exactly those stocks you want to follow. i'm mark allen of fidelity investments. the expert strategies feature is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. now get 200 free trades when you open an account. [ male announcer ] this december, remember -- what starts with adding a friend... ♪

♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection.

it's a big quarter for the largest home builder. toll brothers seeing an increase in selling prices and a big drop in cancellations. is it more proof you should be buying the housing recovery? yes, says mr. murphy. no says steve. debate it. >> valuation. we have toll right now about three times book value. exactly where you are in new home starts right now and we're only selling it $370,000. stocks have gotten ahead of themselves. full disclosure, i've been

wrong, a dog having its day. >> he points to 2005. you look right now it toll brothers have had had its pullback, about 15% off its peak. let's look at next year. they've said the ceo expect revenue and incomes over 20%. >> i don't believe ceos. i like to do some of my own work. >> if you look at the last four quarters, they've increased -- they were up over 40%, over 50%, over 60% and now over 70%. you want to talk about momentum, we're a company that's working. these guys, there's nothing about tol hl brothers that isn' work i working. 70% deliveries. any metric you want to use, the higher end.

>> these guys are really focused on the right market and maybe three, four, five days because of hurricane sandy. >> i'll give you all that, everything you say. you are absolutely right. the question is what do you pay for? compared to historically where it's sold. >> right now -- three times book value. >> like 30 times. >> i would rather pay 50. >> the stock is trading at 30. >> ridiculous. 50% of book value and still participate. >> i'm going to bust this up. who made the most compelling compelling argument? >> i'm going to say they both did.

that is impressive at toll brothers and tells you the strength. just as stephen said, very accurately called toll and he's ridden them much further than i have. now they're only about 5% of my portfolio. they were as much as 15. i've taken a lot off because of that valuation value. >> whoever says i think he's guilty and innocent? set this will one? >> stephen weiss wins. the orders were strong. 20% better than expected. this was a strong earnings report. the stock is trading terrible today. pulling back from the highs. the street does not believe the sto story. upgrade the stock and raise the targets. valuation is full. the story is known. housing recovery is here.

prices are going up. it toll brothers is not responding. >> steve grasso is watching key levels on the s&p. we were talk iing about s&p 50. what are we watching? what's the exact level we need to keep in mind? >> we broke the average to the down side. 50 day is 1420. the problem is when you look at the 1405 level, this is a real soft support. below this is 1395. that's your real support. below that 200 day at 1386. >> give me a read, also, grasso, on a stock you talk with about a lot and that's bank of america. a stock moynihan was on "squawk box" this morning. stocks up 80%. do you buy here? >> it's got to close above

$10.11. that level has been kryptonite for the name. if it doesn't close above there aggressively, you're probably looking at sub 9%. if we're trading, you know, subpennies. so it's got to trade above that. you've got to hold on to that level. but obviously there's a lot of scares going on with the cliff. i love this new spot with the debate. you take john's side. they're both right but if we go over the cliff, the biggest things you're going to see are the housing names be dragged right back down. >> yeah. grasso. good to see you. >> boa is one we agree on. we're both adding to it. it's a great stock. >> all right. let's do a market flash now for a check on what's moving now. what are you watching? apple hit a two-week low this morning. late morning, and then we saw

huge 2.36 million share trades come in. that's about a $1.35 billion trade. a lot say that's associated with option activity. the other thing is technicians are watching it. talking about the moving average and the other stock. apple continues to go lower here moving further away from its moving day average and we are watching potentially 50 day moving average may cross below the 200 day moving average. got to wonder is the stock broken? >> let's ask joey generation, the man who said apple was a generational buy a couple weeks back. >> indeed i did. yesterday afternoon i sold a quarter of my apple quick wit position. what does that mean? the appreciation is going to slow. i think it's the asset that looks most bond friendly in a bond friendly environment and on a pullback i will go back to full share size.

>> these companies are in our top three trades. gold breaks below a key technical level. we're going to go to the pits to find out if it's a sign of even more selling to come. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter. ♪ [ male announcer ] 'tis the season to discover the kid in all of us. enjoy free shipping and great values on your holiday shopping from l.l. bean. well, having a ton of locations doesn't hurt. and a santa to boot! [ chuckles ] right, baby. oh, sir. that is a customer.

oh...sorry about that. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. fedex office. it's easy to follow the progress you're making toward all your financial goals. a quick glance, and you can see if you're on track. when the conversation turns to knowing where you stand, turn to us. wells fargo advisors.

just about to make the turn on "halftime." let's do our top three trains. a great november in part because of this one right here, yahoo! about 12% last month. still a buy at these levels? i mean, the move that we've seen since marissa meyer has taken over, are we talking style or substance behind this? >> i think there has to be both, are scott. i'm more of a believer today than last week. the stock had the pullback we all knew was coming and now it's taking off to break out to new highs. deutsche bank was out this morning. they upgraded yahoo! japan to a buy. it is a buy here and can break into the low 20s. >> a good day for a stock that hasn't done much of late.

opened lows not seen since september of 2009. you're getting the 3% rally today but otherwise ugly. >> yeah. it's kind of interesting what's going on. we've had consistently good chinese data coming out, and that -- >> which you're a big believer of. >> well, that generally drives the move in the stocks, but we haven't seen that. so, to me, the chinese news that's coming out, i don't believe all the numbers and, number two, they're still producing too much steel, cutting back on capacity or should be. that's bad for iron ore. if you look at the coal inventories, they continue to build up which means that there's less being bought as well. so i'm no longer short the iron ore names because i took long exposure off. i took short exposure off as well. i'm not buying into it. at some point they will bounce but they're still not cheap because fundamentals continue to decline. to me this is a bounce. i take any profits.

unlikely you have any unless you bought it this morning when it opened lower. >> a nice concise answer. joe, dsw joining a special dividend parade, accelerating p payout to december 28. stock up almost 4%. >> yes, indeed. 52-week high, $72. takes a stake in the company. look, dsw has the momentum to the upside. what you do here is buy some protection underneath the market. you look in the footwear space at another name, a tremendous amount of cash, black friday momentum real strong. that's foot locker, fl. that's where i put my shoe dollars. >> gold is below $1,700 for the first time in some -- well, i guess about a month or so. does that mean more pain is in sto store? to jackie deangelis, the host of online sensation and it is a sensation. known as futures now. jackie? >> good afternoon, scott. well, you're exactly right. you might think that the fiscal uncertainty would be driving gold higher about but, instead, just check out this chart. at the lowest level since president obama was re-elected. just now under that $1,700 mark.

what's behind the sell-off and is this a buying opportunity? let's start talking futures now. let's start with you, you and rich have been bitten by the gold bug. are you ready to throw in the towel here? >> jackie, i'm not ready yet. usually when you see a day the dollar is as weak as it is, gold is higher. what's happening today is you're seeing a lot of profit taking on gold. it's not profit taking because we're up 9% on the year. traders are worried that some deal with the fiscal cliff will call for higher capital-gains taxes so traders are getting out of their gold positions before that might take effect. >> so profit taking, meantime, rich, what is dipping below the $1,700 mark mean? is that really the right level to be watching? >> well, we gave you the level $ $ $1,706. you're looking at $1,672. every trader will tell you it is a big level here, a close below

that and there's more pain. in fact, let's watch today's close, in one hour, if we close below $1,700 i think there's more down side potentially. >> okay. so that's exactly what we'll keep our eyes focused on. you know what our guys are doing. what do you think? are you buying or selling the dip in gold? logon and vote in our poll. we'll give you the results in our website and you should tune in into today's show. check that out. we have more on gold. we'll talk to harvey kanter, ceo of the jewelry company blue nile. what he sees in gold and silver demand this holiday season. scott, for now, back over to you. >> we'll look forward to the sensation in about 30 minutes. guys, let's talk gold. a few days ago we were asking when gold had this huge $30 pull back, what's going on with gold? why is it making such a move? what's the relation, if any, to the fiscal cliff? >> i think what you do with gold, you own gold. i don't think you trade gold. i think the likelihood in 2013 that there is a second half of the year recovery and growth for the u.s. market is somewhat not

as bull iish for gold and for silver itself. so i think a lot of people have incorrectly placed themselves as gold and silver traders. i don't suggest doing it. >> i think what you're seeing in the gold markets right the now and you've seen early morning trades coming in and gold selling off dramatically, a lot of talk that it's some very large hedge funds unwinding big positions. the sell-off in gold here presents a buying opportunity. it's come down enough i think you can buy it here for a push back high enough. >> if you look at paulson, it's another year of bad performance. they're pulling money out. he's one of the biggest holders of gold. i would guess that he's probably selling and pressuring the market. others are following suit. so to me you can't trade gold, as squoe says, it's an emotional trade, no real way to pay the intrinsic value. i stay away. >> a good point you bring up about mr. paulson, obviously don't know what he's doing with the position that he is known to have in gold but, nonetheless, it's a good point.

still to come, we tackled three stocks trading near 52-week highs and whether it's time to cash in your winnings but, first, he's considered a raging bull on wall street, why that guy right there, barry bannister beliefs the s&p 500 is on the cusp of 1600. you heard that right. and ethan allen is cliff proofing its stock by offering a special dividend. is this the best use of the company's capital? we'll ask the ceo when we come back. we're halfway through the trading day. next, the island reversals, the breakouts, and breakdowns in pops and drops. plus, they say the dumb money trades in the morning and the smart money trades into the close. so we reveal what that smart money is buying and trading before that final bell tolls when the "halftime report" continues. gecko (clearing throat)

thank you, mr. speaker, uh, members of congress. in celebration of over 75 years of our government employees insurance company, or geico...as most of you know members it.congress. ...i propose savings for everyone! i'm talking hundreds here... and furthermore.. newscaster:breaking news. the gecko is demanding free pudding. and political parties that are actual parties!? with cake! and presents! ah, that was good. too bad nobody could hear me. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

our thesis is that with a pretty big deficit/debt problem ultimately you'll have to unwind some of the stimulus and that would be bad for the market

multiples in the interim. >> well, that was one of the street's biggest bears, morgan stanley's adam parker. our next guest has an entirely different opinion and he says stocks are going sharply higher over the next few months regardless of what happens in washington. barry bannister joins us now live. barry, it's nice to see you. >> hi. >> i'd call you a market bull, but i'd be doing you a disservice. you are looking for 1600 in just the next couple of months. how in the world will we get there? >> well, we do need some fiscal clarity. i don't think we can get there without that. right now the central banks have been in the lead around the world and we need the politicians to fall in line. it's taken longer than i thought, though. >> so originally, what, you had 1600 s&p by the end of this year, am i correct, by 2012? >> yeah, the election left a lot of the status quo intact about the house, the senate, and the preside presidency. and obviously we're having

negotiations right now so it's taking a little longer. one thing i would do is draw the parallels to japan. if you recall they entered a balance sheet recession in '91. they were growing by '95, '96. due to a tax increase in '97 and you know what's happened to japan since then. we have to be very careful on the policy side. >> we bring you on to make your point, we simply obviously point out the facts based on what your calls have been. let's assume that viewers watching now agree that we're going to get to 1600 in early 2013. what would you suggest that they buy? >> well, keep in mind that the largest earnings shares of the s&p are in financials, energy, materials, industrials, and those sectors would get the rating on growth confidence. one of the things the bears aren't pointing out is that since the s&p down grade of u.s. debt, the s&p is up 200 points and earnings estimates for this year are down by 11, should be

the strongest part. >> barry, it's joe. the beginning of 2013, we get to 1600. the question then becomes is that some form of a secular talk? selling at that point? what happens thereafter? >> you know, we've been in a 1200 plus or minus 400 range since the late '90s. this is a secular bear market. we've been through four of them in the past 100 years, the most recent was 1967 to 1982 so, yeah, i'm a little concerned that once we get to a top p/es rerated, earnings growth not that strong, that it will be a little harder to plow ahead from that level. we'll need more growth globally. >> it's good to have you on. thanks for coming on today. we'll have you back soon. >> thanks. >> appreciate having you. barry bannister. forget the target of 1600. it doesn't mean that much to most people but what he suggests to buy financials, energy,

materials, industrials, it technology. >> i couldn't agree more. not on the 1600 mark, on what to buy and what would get us there. remember, the s&p rallied about 100 points in a very short amount of time. so if we break above 1425 next level 1450, now we're looking at the 1475 level. if we do get 1500, that's a major if. i think you need a fiscal cliff resolution there. if you get to 1500 to see an additional 100 points from there i think is doable. >> i would have felt better if you said 1475 in six months and 1575 end of the year. yeah, 1600 is great in the first half of 2013, but the concern he has is on the back half of 2013. that's a bigger problem. i think that's the headline. >> up next on "halftime" hold them or fold them? three winning stocks and whether it's time to let them go. plus the ceo of ethan allen weighs in on the decision to offer a special dividend as fiscal cliff worries grow. amerie in charge of their own future.

how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪

thor gets great rewards for his small business! your boa! [ garth ] thor's small business earns double miles on every purchase, every day! ahh, the new fabrics. put it on my spark card. ow. [ garth ] why settle for less? the spiked heels are working. wait! [ garth ] great businesses deserve great rewards. [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? [ cheers and applause ] from investing for the first time...

to investing with knowledge. the potential of td ameritrade unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. to a world of super-connected intelligence. the potential of freescale unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. good day, everybody. on "power lunch" top of the hour, getting it done. a best-selling author and a top expert on negotiations breaks down the current fiscal cliff talks. is there a method behind what appears to be political madness? in advance of friday's jobs report, a surprising new look about what kind of companies are actually creating new jobs in

this economy? we'll have some of the best job creators next hour. and, three things you need to understand about the new facebook messaging announcement. join us on "power." back to scott. we'll see you in about 15 minutes. sometimes it's tough to buy the losers and sell the winners. you know that. let's play a little hold them or fold them, what stocks have made big moves of late. marathon petroleum up more than 78% year to date. joe, hold them or fold them? >> absolutely hold them. you're talking about a mid continent refiner here. secular momentum, clearly a strategy here like rg3 with your redskins, the game has changed and it's changed for years. >> all right. dish network, the stock five-year high, 45% move this year. hold them, fold them? >> i'm folding. i like the cable. not just because of comcast, but i like the cable sector better. very, very competitive. you can tell how competitive it's getting when dish is looking to get into the telephone business and get

struck going which the government so far has said no. to me that's a sign if they're looking down the road and don't like the growth aspects, the core business so i would fold. >> and finally intel, the stock is one of the biggest losers this year, down 19%. so if you're unlucky enough to still have this one, do you hold it, fold it? >> if you're still in it like kenny rogers, you hold on to this one. the dividend is north of 4.5%. it's trading on its lows. you've seen recent lows for dell and some of the research in motion, so i think you can get a pop on intel here. >> ethan allen is one of more than 100 companies announcing special dividends this quarter, as the fiscal cliff looms. joining us now is the company's chairman, president and ceo, farooq kathwari. it's great to have you here. how much of the special dividend is directly related to the fiscal cliff? >> i think the timing of it is 100%. >> you did it with cash rather than debt. money is cheap. why? >> well, we have cash. we have -- we run the company in

an old-fashioned way especially after the great recession. about $100 million in cash we are maintaining. when the great recession hit us, it really hit us. but in the last two years we have been producing enough cash to pay almost $50 million of our debt, $38 million in capital expenditures and still maintain $100 million so from our perspective it was good for stockholders and good for the government. they're going to get taxes this year which they most probably wouldn't have gotten. >> let me raise another issue. it's good for shareholders, you say, and respectfully, let me push back that there are those who are looking at what larry ellison is pocketing, some $200 million off the special dividend and other dividend maneuvers that oracle is doing. he's going to take home $200 million. you own a lot of stock in the company. how would you respond to the criticism that at the end of the day despite ceos who say all of this is good for shareholders that it's good for big owners of stock like you, you're going to make a lot money, more than $1

million. >> absolutely, because i'm a shareholder. in fact, it's the other way around. most ceos don't want to pay dividends because they don't own stock. i was with some stockholders a couple of weeks back. in fact, they raised the issue i was not thinking of it. they said, you know, you are one of us, why don't you give them cash? i said, yes, it's good fob stockholders. >> why do you think your stock is down 5% or so since the day that you announced the dividend? we've watched more than 100 companies come out. you say they're issuing a special dividend. the stock goes straight up. yours has struggled a bit. is that a pushback to those who would -- or from those who would say there's better use of the cash that you have? why can don't you buyback? if you love your stock so much, buy it back rather than pay a special dividend? >> well, a stock in the last couple of months has gone up 30%. this year it's up about 17%. i think the stock probably -- i don't pay much attention to why it goes down but i think the fact it goes up and, secondly, this whole question about the

concern of the economy is out there. so i think that that's an issue. another question of buying the stock back, you know, i took this company private about 20 years back. and we spent almost $500 million in buying the stock back. it was great. it made sense. and today i think we need to make sure we have reasonable out there and we want to make sure that we take care of our other stakeholders. our stockholders and many other individuals makes sense. >> are you optimistic, and this will be my last question, are we going to get a deal in washington? are they going to solve this thing? are they going to rise above? >> you know they have to. and i think that it's not that complicated. running a business like ours, my focus always is increase revenues and manage costs. that is what we have to do, increase revenues and some taxes have to be increased. but then they also have to manage these costs. entitlements, medical, but it's not -- you know, it's simple. it's got to be done both ways. >> i'm going to get you one of

these pins. rise above. you'll wear it? >> i will. >> kathwari thanks for coming in. he is, of course, the chairman and president of ceo, as we said, of ethan allen. dr. j., i know you've been boieserous about this very issue. >> about the dividend side of it and i love that he has skin in the game, scott. i mean, all the ceos that actually do have skin in the game through being a shareholder like the rest of us, i salute him for making a prudent use of this capital. i think it's better than buying the shares back at this point because of this looming fiscal cliff and i think all these 103 companies that have done so are addressing exactly that fact, and i do hope that we can get our spending under control like he has in ethan allen. >> all right. good last word on that topic. up next, the case for a euro rally when we come back in about two minutes.

[ male announcer ] trading's like a high-speed train. and you don't want to miss it with thinkorswim by td ameritrade. you get knock-your-socks-off tools, simple one-click orders, real-time paper trading to hone your skills, plus anytime you need it support. ♪ stocks, options, futures, and forex. get your trading on track. thinkorswim by td ameritrade. trade commission free for 60 days, plus get up to $600 when you open an account.

welcome back to the halftime show. eu finance ministers clashing today over a banking supervision plan. i hate when they do that will renewed arguments mean an end to the euro rally as we know it heading into 2013? ask kathy lean of bk asset management. she is live in new york. kathy, what's the answer? >> i don't think it's going to the end of euro rally but i think give us an opportunity to possibly come in and go long your rose at a lower level. because overall, i think the reduction in tail risk is going

to be very supportive of the euro as you go into the new year and if we do get a deal on the fiscal cliff, even if it is a benign deal, may be enough to keep the euro well supported. so i think if we get a dip as a result of the euro finance ministers meeting, we should taken a opportunity to get n >> a fiscal cliff deal, could you have a risk-on scenario, so to speak, the dollar weaker and euro would get some support? >> yes, that's exactly what i'm saying. >> what levels should we be paying attention to in the trade? >> in terms of the trade, eurodollar, if you get buy it around the 130 level, that's good value point with a stop at 129 and a target 15930, 150 this whole euro area finance ministers meeting could be on par the catalyst that takes us lower on the eurodollar. >> kathy, good to talk to you. >> my pleasure. >> "money in motion," that program airing every friday night at 5:30 p.m. eastern, only, of course, on cnbc. the biggest pops and drops

in midday trading, joey, big lots with a big pop. >> yeah, ten-cent loss versus a 24-cent loss, double digit short interest for a trade, maybe higher but structurally, not a good company. >> letter x, murv, u.s. steel? >> a nice pop earlier today. announced layoffs earlier in the week, you look right now, they've joint venture down in texas. positive news out of china's pmi. i think the steel does start to rally. >> dr. j, baxter international with a drop r. >> i think long term, scott, a great decision to take out this swedish dialysis k short term, i think the stock could trend down to 62 or even 60 a share so aid hold off on it. >> and weiss garden, on sale today because it is down 10%, issuing promotions, right? >> deja vu all over again after yum last week. yum sales up better, discounted more, the virus not good. the most interesting thing out of their statement was that the ceo came out and said he is worried about the backlash from

darden being very visible and cutting back their full-time workers less than 30 hours week so they don't have to pay for obama carism would say that is very, very interesting. watch for other companies to do it. otherwise the cost goes up for these food restaurant chains. >> a pop for puppies. many college students are looking for twice ease stress during final exams. one canadian university has gone to the dogs. starting today, dalhousie university in halifax, nova scotia, is throwing students a bone by providing a puppy room where students can destress among four-legged friends. although the idea may seem barking mad, organizers promise that simply pekt the dogs will help relieve anxiety. >> we need one for the "fast money" guys, petting, with dogs. >> move on. >> no comment. >> let's go somewhere else. >> seem marks help us. >> i'm here, guys have no fear. here's what's coming up next on the cnbc "fast money" show at 5 p.m. eastern. she was the most closely watched analyst at the height of the

1990s tech boom, today, mary meeker's tech predictions moving some of the biggest names. meekers a head lines, the smartphone revolution has just begun. cnbc "fast money" at 5:00 we want to know how you're trading meeker's call on mobile adoption, tweet us your comments, questions tonight. you know, scott, we go through each and every tweet that we receive. >> i know you do and thank you for rescuing us. weiss was giving us too much information about the short hills capital holiday party. i always wait until the last minute.

can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. if you're a man with low testosterone, you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t.

that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications. do not use if you have prostate or breast cancer. serious side effects could include increased risk of prostate cancer; worsening prostate symptoms; decreased sperm count; ankle, feet, or body swelling; enlarged or painful breasts; problems breathing while sleeping; and blood clots in the legs. common side effects include skin redness or irritation where applied, increased red blood cell count, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, and increase in psa. see your doctor, and for a 30-day free trial, go to axiron.com.

♪ [ male announcer ] 'tis the season to discover the kid in all of us. enjoy free shipping and great values on your holiday shopping from l.l. bean. the good doctor, final sflanchsd potash, pot, big buying of upside calls. >> joseph terranova? >> good note by health terry at goldman sachs, i take the other side, aol lowering price